Sector Insight Briefng Autumn 2018

The challenges ahead for food retail as the hunger for change grows.

/ Back Next visualthinking.co.uk The Performance Issue 1 Contents Special Features

Future Food 4 The UK grocery retail sector is reportedly worth £175bn, with sales predicted to hit £197bn by 2021. Introduction 1 Here, we examine what the future could look like for grocery... About 2 Our Favourites 7 Supermarkets’ ability to keep things fresh is being put to the test. Here’s our review of what we Changing Tastes 3 personally love and things we think have reached their sell by date… Rotten Tomatoes 10 Big Eats 11 12 Prime Cuts What are some of the big trends currently shaping 17 UK grocery retailing? Here are just nine… as food Organic Roots for thought. Deli-cious 19 Great Taste 13 Seasoned Well 20 A roundup of great food fnds that are prepared to perfection. From Singapore to the Netherlands, My Beef 21 plus some of the tastiest home-grown examples that we recommend you visit, our selection is Food Talk – The Interview 22 further testament to how grocery retail does not have to be a soulless and sterile experience. Wait’rosy? 24 Shelf Life 26 Buy British 28 Grocery retail is in fux. But the main enemy isn’t, as many argue, the threat of online. In fact, the Hello Jack’s 29 solution could lie in changing the way we view and value store staf. VM for GM 30 Street Food 31 Box Fresh 32 Healthy Swap 33 Bread Winners 34 Cook Books 35

Copywriters Marc Baker Kay Garrett

Guest Contributors Bryan Roberts Anna Masing

Contributors Karl McKeever [email protected] Kirsty Kean [email protected] Suzanne Tanner [email protected] Image | Apolónia, Portugal Katy Trodd [email protected] Ellie Pask [email protected]

Back Next 1 Introduction

The grocery retail sector is in a state of fux. Assumptions that have underpinned the business models of the big supermarkets for so many years no longer hold true.

Put simply, there is much work to do. For most it is no longer about tweaks but rather how they can fundamentally reinvent themselves, redefne their place in the market, do it better, and do it now. Too many in the sector lack a real purpose or beneft. Diferentiation should be easy. Sadly, ‘me too’ seems an easier path to follow.

This means adopting an approach of clear, considered thinking and applying great expertise to deliver rich and consistent visual execution instore, inspiring positive emotional responses from shoppers, rousing their brand afection and adding payback to the commercial proftability of physical retailing.

Nonetheless, there are some sensational examples of best practice to be found, both in the UK and around the world. Those who are getting it right are set to win big. Could your business be one of them?

In reality, many in the sector are still missing out on quick wins, such as better- defned visual policy, developing team capability and improving their ability to deliver frst-rate retail standards. The support and tools, which could so easily be added to their armoury, are out there. They just need to be used efectively.

Challenges are there. So are opportunities. And we know how to tackle the former and harness the latter

Karl McKeever Kirsty Kean Suzanne Tanner Founder & Managing Director Lead Retail Specialist Senior Retail Specialist

Back Next 2 About

This special Insight Briefng aims to provide in-depth insights into the ever- changing tastes of shoppers, highlight key sector trends and ofer thought-provoking observations to inform retail thinking in the coming months. Using our industry expertise to drive best practice, we aim to guide serious Visual Thinking knows a thing or two about grocery retail. With 25 years of experience, we’ve enabled some of the biggest retail professionals towards their ultimate names in sector to see real and immediate breakthroughs in retail goal: improved retail performance. performance, from front of store promotions, to category specifc store presentation solutions. Our team of retail transformation specialists are dedicated to helping retailers take stores from To those truly attuned to the changing needs of customers in the the everyday to the exceptional. Whether your focus is on game- sector, it will come as little surprise that following extensive store visits, changing methods or continuous improvement, we turn big we found many that aren’t paying enough attention to the basics of strategy into meaningful action – informing policy, embedding good presentation standards and customer experience. These are change, empowering teams and engaging shoppers. No one issues that signifcantly impact on performance efectiveness of stores delivers visible change instore better and faster. over time. Even for the top performers, there’s still some way to go. For more information visit: We’re still surprised by the number of grocery retailers leaving www.visualthinking.co.uk potential sales opportunities on the shelf. Shoppers’ spend is hard won, and food retailers of every kind and size need to up their game – considerably – to see positive improvements where they matter most… at the checkout.

Within the following pages we underline the missed opportunities if retailers neglect to implement such quick wins and the danger of overlooking the long-term value of getting best practice right in the here and now. Many at store level remain remarkably indiferent towards the impact that good retail standards have on customers’ opinion on the brand, service and overall shopping experience. All are proven to drive up customer satisfaction and average spend. The devil here is in the detail

It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better. Image | Gus’s Community Market, San Francisco

Sir Jonathan Ive Apple

Back Next 3 Changing Tastes

Research commissioned by the UK’s leading recipe box service, HelloFresh, found that on You are what you eat average Britain’s only have six recipes in Go back two generations and most families ate their meals at our repertoire. the same time every day (breakfast at 7am, lunch at 12pm and dinner at 5pm). There was also a strict rota when it came to what people ate on which day of the week. A roast dinner on Sunday, followed by leftover cold meat on a Monday, then any further leftovers made into a pie or other dish for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Not forgetting “fsh and chips Friday”. The weekly food rota was very much always the same, using up all leftovers and serving them with fresh vegetables every night.

Whilst people often didn’t have a huge variety of choice, it was true that people regularly ate freshly prepared meals and vegetables. This discipline helped to keep waistlines slim and food waste to a minimum. Today, the 3-square-meal-a-day rule is the exception rather than, well, the rule. Skipping breakfast, snacking and several cups of cofee a day are commonplace. Long gone are the hours spent slaving over the stove. Instead, choice and convenience abound. Not only do we get to choose when we eat our food, but we also have a vast selection of food options. From takeaways, fast food and ready meals to dishes and ingredients from around the world; Italian, Mexican, Asian, Polish, the list is exhaustive.

It’s fair to say that the nation’s taste buds have developed over time; Whilst we’re certainly more educated in nutrition, the contrast in some of the traditional British favourites are losing favour or being what and how we eat compared to our grandparents is glaringly replaced by other options. The Department of Environment, Food and apparent, though not necessarily always for the better. Rural Afairs has been collecting data on eating habits through its annual Family Food Survey for decades. So just how much have our taste buds changed?

+49.52% + 100% +378.33%

Bacon Ready Fruit Butter Sandwich Beans Vegetables Pasta Meals

-70.75% -46.55% -17% -3.24%

Back Next 4 Future Food Image | © Lernert & Sander – Cubes

The UK grocery retail sector is reportedly worth £175bn, with sales predicted to hit £197bn by 2021. Here, we examine what the future could look like for grocery...

Back Next 5 The Performance Issue 5 As a nation, we have largely ditched the traditional weekly shop. Time pressures, combined with heavily publicised concerns about household food waste, have resulted in a drop in larger shopping missions. Instead, British customers visit food retailers more often, but for smaller and quicker shops. But how can retailers adapt to our changing needs and create strategies to adjust to future trends?

Food for thought According to Defra, some 24% of a typical pay packet went on food in 1974 compared with just 11% today. Increased competition, better logistics and modern agricultural methods have all played a part in this. So too has the price war, frst spearheaded by Tesco and Morrisons, in attempts to stall the advance of the discounters. It didn’t work and falling prices have only resulted in proft margins of the established players being squeezed. It highlights the futility of pursuing a strategy of price slashing. It is also a clear sign that retailers have failed to keep pace with the changing demands of today’s grocery shoppers. What’s called for is an improved and extended ofering instore, a refocus Image | Soriana, Mexico City on back to basics and retail experiences that satisfy more than just functional needs.

Rising stars Food pairings Discounters are faring well in the nation’s favour at the moment. In As shopping habits change and the role of stores evolves, grocery 2017, £1 in every £8 of grocery spend found its way into the pockets retailers are exploring how to redefne their place in the market. The of Aldi and Lidl, according to Nielsen. Earlier this year, Aldi knocked common consensus, when you look broadly at their strategies, seems Waitrose of the top spot as Britain’s favourite supermarket in an instore to be to give customers more reasons to visit, through partnerships survey carried out by Which?. The survey ranked supermarkets in the with other retailers, high-quality instore dining and other service-based instore category based on consumers’ feelings about the appearance options. Among additional oferings not currently available, studies of stores, queuing time, staf availability and the range and quality of have found that, perhaps surprisingly, postal services would be the products and value for money. most popular, followed by health clinics and banking services. And the common theme across all channels is the need to provide convenient Merger matters services that appeal to the time-conscious customers. Industry commentators suggest that we will see declining numbers of physical supermarkets in the UK. ‘Less is more’ is likely to be the Tasty challenges key theme. This will be partly driven by greater consolidation within Overall, grocery retailers are reconsidering their approach to physical the sector, such as the proposed £12bn ‘Sainsda’ deal. If successful, retail spaces in a bid to better refect our changing habits – and get it would have combined revenues of £51 billion and boast a network us to spend more. Time-conscious customers will no longer tolerate of 2,800 Sainsbury’s, Asda and Argos stores. And let’s not forget the attempts to lure them into buying non-essentials instead of directing Tesco-Booker mega-merger too. But will it mean fewer, better? them straight to everyday items. Shoppers want to get what they need and fast. That presents operational challenges: defning and communicating layout and retail policy changes and engaging and developing the skills of retail teams to implement and maintain new ways of thinking both efectively and consistently

% Share of Total Market UK, Finanical Year Ending 2017

12 Weeks to 16 July 2017 Food and non alcoholic drinks (£ per week) 12 Weeks to 15 July 2018 % of total expenditure

30

25 27.9 27.6

20

15 16 15.6 15.1 15.1 10

10.5 10.5 5 7 7.5 6.2 6.4 5.1 5.4 5.1 5 1.1 1.2 0 2.12 2.1 1.81 1..8 1.8

Under 30 30-49 50-64 65-74 75 and over Lidl Aldi Asda Tesco Co-op Ocado Iceland Waitrose Morrisons Symbols & Symbols Sainsbuyr’s Independatns Other Multiples Other

Back Source: Ofce for National Statistics. Next 6 The Performance Issue 6 Bryan Roberts The Future of the UK Global Insights Director TCC Global Grocery Landscape

When looking at the future of the grocery market in the UK, there are some knowns and unknowns.

In terms of knowns, there are a few very well-documented structural shifts underway in the UK grocery market. Chief among these is the ongoing The wild card could be Amazon. I’m learning that nothing can be ruled out growth of the limited assortment grocers – Aldi and Lidl – with a combined when it comes to Amazon: common logic suggests that Morrisons might market share of 13% and an expectation that this will double over the be a target, but its more upmarket shopper and its weighting towards the medium term. The shift of grocery spend online, with the associated southeast could make Sainsbury’s a preferred option. And such a move dilution of proftability, appears to be plateauing, but still accounts for a would annoy Walmart, no doubt a bonus for Amazon these days. decent slice of the market. Another known is that the major mainstream supermarkets are facing up to a new reality: lower margins, a need to keep Another unknown is how warmly shoppers will embrace Tesco’s new a stern eye on costs and shoppers that are better informed and more discount fascia. If its frst store in Cambridge is anything to go by it will be promiscuous than ever. a very standard take on the discount concept, but there’s little doubt that Tesco has plenty of resolve and more than enough spare space and car The unknowns also loom large. One key question is the mood of the CMA parks to give the new venture some serious welly. when it comes to assessing the proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda. Will this regulatory process be the excruciating and value-destroying saga One topic that receives less than its fair share of coverage (thanks to their that befell Poundland and 99p Stores? Or will it be the shoulder shrugging exclusion from the monthly market share data pored over by the business ‘whatever’ that greeted Tesco and Booker? Best case for Sainsbury’s and pages) is the threat posed to supermarkets by B&M and Home Bargains. Asda looks likely to be a green light with up to 100 stores needing to be The former, which is bolstering its full grocery ranges and building on its sold. Another question is whether or not a third party might look to gate- Heron Foods division through the opening of B&M Express outlets, poses crash the wedding before the rings are exchanged – precisely as Walmart a huge threat to the Big Four yet is rarely mentioned in the traditional food themselves did to the planned Kingfsher-Asda nuptials many years ago. retail narrative.

UK Grocery Landscape

Grocery Market Share 2013-2018 (%)

January 2013 March 2018

3.9 M&S Food 3.3

Back Source: Kantar Worldpanel/FT.com/Statista Next 7 The Performance Issue 7 Our Favourites Supermarkets’ ability to keep things fresh is being put to the test. Here’s our review of what we personally love and things we think have reached their sell by date…

Our team as shoppers… Like the rest of Britain, we love food and food shopping. We’re a representative cross-section of foodies. From ‘meals in minutes’ masters to salad superstars, weekend cooks, cake makers, bread bakers and more.

Image | Morrisons, St. Ives, Cambridgeshire

Returning to better times, its strategic alliance with There are lots of potential distractions right now – Carrefour and launch of new discount supermarket the integration Argos and, of course, the proposed brand Jack’s show it has no plans to ease of. ‘Sainsda’ merger.

CEO Dave Lewis has been a breath of fresh air since his Sainsbury’s focus on extending the general merchandise tenure began in 2014. He’s focused on getting the basics right: raising ofer in its bigger stores has impressed. For us, it’s the most store standards, ensuring product availability, improving customer comprehensive of the Big Four. When it comes to its food ofer, its deli service and strengthening ranges. Stores are also much more counters are a hit. Its premium “Taste the Diference” range is a legacy noticeably free from previous POS clutter and feature more focused and from a previous rebrand in 1999, but in terms of ofer it’s a strong as targeted ofers. ever. So too is its Nectar Loyalty Scheme.

For us, the Tesco logo is in desperate need of an upgrade, with Sadly, there’s much to do. General store standards are in the red, white and blue pips being very dated. Though strong at launch, decline and the integration of Argos instore has been unimpressive. and received well, The Food Love Stories campaign is also becoming Investment is essential. And please, remove the top stocking on less credible. As for F&F: it’s very inconsistently executed, with sale shelves instore. Tu Clothing appears to be sufering from an addiction racks often near tills giving the brand a feel of ‘giving up’. General to permanent cut price promotions. We’re also not entirely sold on the merchandise is old school – typically presented and in aisle – and ‘By Sainsbury’s’ own brand food labelling. Sainsbury’s once ‘owned’ needs a shot in the arm. private label brand design, but has lately given this prize away to Waitrose and M&S.

Food Ofer Average Rating General Merchandise Ofer Average Rating Score Score

Lidl Lidl Aldi Aldi M&S M&S Asda Asda Tesco Tesco Co-op Co-op Iceland Iceland Partners Partners Waitrose Waitrose Waitrose & Waitrose Waitrose & Waitrose Sainsbuyr’s Sainsbuyr’s

Back Source: Visual Thinking Team: Sample Size 20. Next 8 The Performance Issue 8 Store Experience Average Rating Profts are down following price decreases and uncertain times lie ahead as Walmart prepares to ofoad the business.

ASDA’s Extra Special range is a masterclass in premium branding, with a mouthwatering menu and attractive, high-end packaging. We also love their new ‘Starts with A...’ advertising campaign – a clever way of Score emphasising their food credentials, promoting the quality of their products and also giving recipe and meal ideas to customers, succinctly and enticingly.

Lidl Aldi M&S Asda Tesco

The general store ambience needs work, to lift it from the Co-op Iceland Partners doldrums. Stores have lurid colours and the atmosphere feels cheap – Waitrose Waitrose & Waitrose and not in a pleasant ASDA price way. The George Clothing department is Sainsbuyr’s crying out for an overhaul, with declining presentation and store standards refecting a lack of inspiration in the brand. Investment has fallen, so too the customer experience. Customer Service Average Rating

Under the stewardship of CEO David Potts, the turnaround of the business continues to impress even its biggest critics. Score

The new-style store concept is a winner, but improvements to existing stores have also caught our eye, with the revamped formats being more modern and relevant. We’re also impressed with the new Food to Go concept at the front of stores. Market Street remains the retailer’s defning Lidl Aldi M&S Asda Tesco USP. Clever advertising in the Morrisons Makes It and family values Co-op Iceland Partners campaigns have helped to underline their proposition. Waitrose Waitrose & Waitrose Sainsbuyr’s

Ranges are too inconsistent across the entire product Retail Execution Average Rating proposition. Its kitchen shop needs improving, and the instore delivery of Nutmeg Clothing feels like a dated efort compared with competitors. The stores also feature way too many ofers, and still focus heavily on their CDs and DVDs.

The rise of discounters continues, with UK sales Score exceeding £10bn for the time and 1000 stores target by 2022.

Aldi stores are easy to shop and we love the new-style Lidl Aldi M&S Asda Tesco Co-op

stores with their ambience and improved look and feel. Product Iceland Partners Waitrose packaging radiates design quality. Their food quality, in particular the & Waitrose Sainsbuyr’s fresh veg, is nothing short of amazing. The wine department is going great guns selling low-price, high-quality bottles. In fact, we’re generally impressed with their focus on investment and the way they do business VM/Presentation Average Rating day to day.

Sadly, their general merchandise ofer has poor presentation, undoubtedly the least efective part of the whole store. Aldi needs to keep its staying power too, as standards can slip a little towards closing time. The till points are too small and the checkout too fast – there’s nothing like 20 onlookers watching you speed pack. Stress! Score

Lidl Aldi M&S Asda Tesco Co-op

Back NextIceland Partners Waitrose Waitrose & Waitrose Sainsbuyr’s

Source: Visual Thinking 9 The Performance Issue 9 The Co-op set out its plans for 2018 as the The store-in-store tie-up with The Range has been year began, with a £160m investment earmarked big news, with the potential to be another industry on 100 new food stores. game-changer.

Its Revitalised Dividend Scheme is a real winner, with 5% of money The retailer is pulling no punches in staking out the high ground for spent on own-brand products going into your membership account and recognition in innovation and quality. Its ambitions are admirable as it 1% to local causes. The retailer has also – thankfully – rediscovered and sets out its proposition and carves its own niche in the market. Social recommitted to its ethical standpoint, after what could be described as media is engaging at all levels, too. ‘corporate vandalism’ under previous (dubiously termed) leadership.

The whole store experience needs a good overhaul Their big stores are not as efective as the neighbourhood – even the newer ones. There’s way too much POS and promotional ones. And there is a distinct lack of cohesive national identity, with one of noise all competing to be heard, from new ranges, deals and ofers to the most confusing branding (and many derivatives) out there. Its various multibuys and special buys. generations of regional/group formats present a muddled image, not an efective or cohesive way to promote the business.

Perhaps seeing innovation as its diferentiator. It’s still good, but could it be even better? M&S Its too-good-to-throw-away fruit and veg box trial believe so, drafting in Stuart Machin to revamp its has caught attention. food ranges.

The new instore bakeries are a thing of beauty, with a fantastic range There’s so much to love about M&S. The food quality of breads and pastries on ofer. Like Aldi, Lidl’s wine department is also is divine, faultless and delicious. Store ambience is great, beating even going from strength-to-strength, ofering shoppers great bargains on a Waitrose for distinctiveness in design and aesthetics. We love the front wide range of world wines. The ‘Dream Big with Lidl’ advertising campaign of store themes and events, and shopping there is a joy – it’s fast and was also a real standout before the World Cup, with cheeky kids imparting easy. They have a sophisticated approach to advertising and packaging, their wisdom to footballers. all professionally joined up with no sharp edges.

In a word, lots. Compared to its counterpart Aldi, they We’ve noticed more and more ofers and promotions creeping seem far less focused and need to implement a much more joined-up in, which is starting to grate. Wine is on the tiredly permanent 20% approach across the whole store. Unfortunately, this lacking makes a big ofer, which quickly loses its appeal. Meal Deals and Dine In are ten a – and negative – impact on perceptions of competence and quality. Like penny, so to speak, and again start to lose some of their magic through Aldi, store standards fall below towards end of day – caution! ubiquity. The retailer could ramp up the instore tasting experiences to encourage shoppers to ‘try something new’ and experiment.

It will hope the launch of its new ‘Waitrose & Partners’ identity is just the start of a fresh future and improving fortunes. Overall Ranking Average Rating

The Duchy Organic and Waitrose 1 ranges are high watermarks – even Waitrose Essentials is noticeably better than the main ranges at other stores. The retailer wins on providing inspiration for shoppers out-of-store. Waitrose Inspiration is packed with lifestyle, cooking and exercise tips and advice, and competitions, while the free Waitrose Food magazine for myWaitrose members features recipes and articles from chefs and food writers. Waitrose’s social media overall gets a big thumbs up from us.

Waitrose needs to return to its pioneering roots, innovating frst

and faster with new ranges and concepts, and shouting louder about Lidl Aldi M&S Asda Tesco Co-op

them. It needs to work on making the shopper feel special again – with Iceland Partners Waitrose basics like pack at checkout and carry to car. The cofee shops are too & Waitrose Sainsbuyr’s busy and slow, while the Garden ofer has long since lost its charm.

Our Top 3 Retailers 1. M&S Food Back 2. Waitrose Next 3. Tesco

Source: Visual Thinking 10 Rotten Tomatoes

We know UK grocery retailers can innovate, If I was judging innovation performance on a singular demonstration of best practice, Morrisons St. Ives store would have ‘won’ 2018 hands but they still have a lot to answer for in the down. But as truly good as this store is, its other concept shop (opened consistency stakes. So what’s a retailer to do? at the same time) isn’t. The concept is the same. The delivery is markedly diferent. Here, the potential of a great.

Today’s new generation has vastly diferent consumption habits than its Consistency is very much my word of the moment. Acknowledge and parents. Their expectation of food retailers has changed too – seeking celebrate achievements by all means. But what does success look out experiences that are attuned to their ‘new ways’ of both eating and like in the hundreds of other stores in your estate? Almost without buying food. Grocery retailers have been struggling to catch up and still exception, the major grocery retailers must get smarter at identifying have a long way to go in their attempts to shake of ‘90s thinking’ about the changes needed to improve consistency of retail execution. how people shop for food. Contrast this to the likes of Aldi and Lidl. Both continue to impress. Like Credit where credit’s due…there have been pockets of outstanding a McDonald’s franchise, they are spreading across the UK, backed innovation by the grocery giants in recent years. However, their stores by a rapid and aggressive rollout programme. More importantly, each as a whole have largely stagnated. Some will likely disagree with that store is landed with franchisee-like levels of consistency. During statement. But the true test of success in this industry is achieving critical Tesco’s land grab heyday, it also opened stores at a rate of knots. But mass and few of the recent innovations really have landed nationwide. the tireless consistency and efciency of both Aldi and Lidl is on a diferent level. So in the absence of innovation, what can retailers do? For me, there remains an ‘elephant in the supermarket’ – one that must be I’m not decrying the importance of new concept stores – they’re addressed. With focus diverted on delivering isolated examples of essential for the future. Their role in supporting innovation and newness, retail execution within many existing stores is foundering. conducting test and learn activities are hugely valuable. My concern Factor in ten years of austerity and a low price environment and it’s not is that substandard retail execution is still an all too familiar story. The surprising that the general quality of store experience has stalled and halo efect on fnancial performance from a new store concept will only for some brands is in decline in real terms. extend so far and stakeholder enthusiasm will soon be dampened. What’s needed now is strong leadership, with senior management For me, the answer lies in going back to what UK food retailers used to endorsing the necessary support to ensure that the transformative do so well. Our supermarkets were highly respected for the precision efects of positive change are felt throughout the business, consistently with which they rolled out the execution of their retail concepts. Today, – in every store, every day the experience is far from being on point. Worse still, for UK shoppers making the regular visit to their local supermarket, there is often huge disparity in retail standards between one store and another – even within the same chain. Karl McKeever Founder & Managing Director Visual Thinking

If online is about convenience, instore has to be all about the experience

Karl McKeever Visual Thinking

Back Next 11 Big Eats The Performance Issue 11

What are some of the big trends currently shaping UK grocery retailing? Here are just nine… as food for thought.

Ethics #1 Sustainability and ethics are the big story of the moment. Supermarkets have lost our trust from an ethical perspective but aren’t working hard enough to improve their brand image from a sustainability viewpoint either. Headlines for the Big Four in recent years have not been favourable. Take, for example, the false accounting scandal at Tesco’s and the recent proposed merger of Asda and Sainsbury’s, neither of which have sat well with the British public.

Packaging #2 Plastic waste is pretty much dominating the eco-headlines lately. But what is being done? One option mooted is to double the price of carrier bags. Yet why are we still not packaging-free in the fruit and veg section? Beautifully stacked produce displays are standard in Australian supermarkets but are rarely seen in the UK. Meanwhile, smaller companies like Bulk Market are already paving the way, pioneering zero waste. There’s no doubt: it will become the norm. So why isn’t this being championed by at least one of the big UK supermarkets?

Provenance Top Image | Cumbrae’s, Toronto #3 The Lidl Surprises campaign has been a hugely successful Bottom Image | Eataly, New York campaign. People buying cheap mass-produced product are pleasantly surprised to hear directly from local farmers. And with an increasing focus on food provenance, keeping it local is a winning tactic. Food Demos There are enough small brands in every supermarket for them to highlight #7 Instore food demonstrations have been taken to a new level in artisan products with interesting backstories – meeting customer demand other retail sectors, so why do traditional supermarkets still insist and reaping commercial benefts. on handing out tiny food samples on a tray served up by disengaged staf? The potential for immersive food experiences is huge and currently Health underused. Fortnum and Mason recently celebrated National Burger #4 Vegetarian and vegan eating are on the rise. With people more Day with a burger bar. So why not introduce pop-up experiences or mini aware of nutrition and food intolerances, big supermarkets are festivals instore? Or allow small suppliers to demonstrate their products catering for them, but still not championing them to the extent they could and highlight brand stories – providing a great halo efect for the retailer. be. The free-from aisle has a long way to go to be anywhere near exciting. Health food stores are leading the way, adopting new trends such as the raw Doing it for the ‘Gram or fermented food movement. Wholefoods is the place to go for these. With #8 Social media is one of the biggest consumer infuences today. Amazon now at the helm, once-niche food categories are more accessible to And food is a big conversation on these channels. Anything the masses. Supermarkets need to create dedicated areas for these products that allows people to document their experience online is going to drive – almost shop-in-shops, with clear POS and product information – making footfall into the store. Supermarkets underuse the Instagram factor – with them desirable destination spaces, instead of appearing as an afterthought. few stores set up to truly engage visiting infuencers with huge followings. Take the British Museum of Food. The whole experience is set up to be Community visually appealing, immersive and exciting. It would just take a tiny bit of #5 The People’s Supermarket in Holborn was set up as a social this ingenuity to create some wow factor in supermarkets… glow-in-the- enterprise to provide the local community with good, cheap food. dark ice cream samples would be an absolute conversation starter. Make Grocery bills can be discounted by working a few hours a week at the your own ice cream – a way to keep the kids happy while you shop? And store. This is the antithesis to large corporations. However, the retailer could you can bet all of it would be documented on social media. more efectively harness some of this community spirit ethos to encourage customers to make food bank donations and do charitable work. World Foods #9 The World Foods aisles in supermarkets vary, but overall they Mobile Payments tend to be destination areas, only used if you are looking for #6 Sainsbury’s is the frst UK supermarket to trial check-out free a specifc food, or if it’s your native diet. There’s plenty of scope to turn shopping in Clapham, London. Similar to Amazon Go in the these spaces into cultural celebrations. Ichiba, the recently opened US, the aim is to make food shopping a more streamlined visit. None of Japanese store in London, is a great example of how a marketplace its competitors seem to be progressing quickly enough with payment-free combined with restaurant can create an inspiring environment that shopping – but it isn’t going to go away. becomes a true destination.

Back Next 12 Prime Cuts

A year since the Amazonisation of Whole Foods Market, delivery may be super fast but customers, it seems, are not getting such a prime deal from the instore experience.

In just over 12 months, Amazon has all but taken over the messaging space within Whole Foods. “Prime Member Deal” promotions are everywhere. So much so, it’s easy to forget that this is a food store at all.

Whole Foods has always been renowned for its fresh produce with all organic labelling. Now? It’s unclear. Prime membership numbers among its customers is up. However quality, and more importantly satisfaction among loyal shoppers, appears to be down.

The retailer has received unusually high levels of criticism from furious customers who claim produce has turned ‘depressing,’ and ‘barren’. Some have cited persistent out-of-stock issues and food not lasting as long. The blame is being frmly placed at Amazon’s door and worryingly, some customers are abandoning the grocery retailer. Whole Foods remains adamant that nothing has changed. Whether the dip in quality is real or perceived is irrelevant. For any successful brand, perception is often everything and customers feel Amazon has eaten Whole Foods and all it stands for.

While it may have recently invested in adding 20,000 new vehicles to its delivery feet, elsewhere Amazon is reducing cost by standardising ranges across all stores. Centralised buying decisions means less regional autonomy and fewer local products (often a big hit with shoppers) in favour of more commodity ‘ordinary’ brands. While price reductions are appreciated, they shouldn’t be at the expense of quality. It’s what Whole Foods built their brand identity around, though many believe Amazon could unpick its DNA until it becomes just another regular grocery experience,

Yes, customers love improved efciency, but they love a great shopping experience even more. Food is emotive and retailers who strip grocery shopping down to a functional commodity purchase do so at their peril

Top Image | Whole Foods Market, New York Bottom Image | Whole Foods Market, Chicago

Back Next 13 Great Taste Image | © Eiliv Aceron – Unsplash

A roundup of great food fnds that are prepared to perfection. From Singapore to the Netherlands, plus some of the tastiest home-grown examples that we recommend you visit, our selection is further testament to how grocery retail does not have to be a soulless and sterile experience.

Back Next 14

Ichiba At a Glance URL: ichibalondon.com Japanese food and drink on a department store Founded: 1976 level, featuring a multipurpose grocery store, bakery, Location: London fshmongers, butchers, as well as dining areas and homeware.

What do we love? Europe’s largest Japanese food hall arrived in Westfeld London earlier this year. Inside, you’ll fnd from over 3,000 products including lots Japanese staple ingredients and kitchen bits.

There’s plenty to inspire your cooking, including hard to fnd confectionery and sake, fresh handmade sushi, noodles and curries, Japanese street food, unique gifts and homewares and a dedicated Japanese bakery and café.

Aside from the food stations and shops, there are “theatrical kitchens” where you can watch cookery demonstrations and workshops. In the future, there are also plans for sake tastings, regional food and drink festivals and other events.space wisely matters.

At a Glance Eat 17 URL: eat17.co.uk Founded: 2007 The independently owned and multiple award-winning Location: Hammersmith group of restaurant and self-proclaimed ‘not your average store’ convenience stores.

What do we love? The Eat 17 revolution started back in 2007 in Walthamstow in a run down unloved shop. We love Eat 17 primarily because of the ethos of the business. It’s commitment to making every department the best it can be is clear to anyone who visits not just its Walthamstow store, but the other four that have since joined its retail estate.

The company itself states that it is dedicated to doing things the right way; thinking local, prioritising people before proft, taking great pride in its work and, most of all, putting proper food on your plate. And it certainly delivers. Its ffth store, in Hammersmith, opened this summer and features indoor street food market booths and yoga classes.

Its sixth store, in Leytonstone, opens in September. Its entire ethos is about having interesting, innovative, unique local, seasonal ingredients and seasonal products, but at the same time ofering everyday value (many of which are Tesco price matched): a winning formula.

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Jasons – The Gourmet Grocer At a Glance URL: marketplacebyjasons.com The high-end chain supermarket owned by Cold Storage Founded: 1975 with stores in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Location: Singapore

What do we love? Far removed from Singapore’s open-air hawker centres, gourmet grocer Jasons is one of the best places to shop for exclusive niche brands and gourmet deli products. The enclave of all things trendy, exotic and exquisite, its approach to food presentation is both distinguished and luxurious. Located in the classy end of Orchard Towers, Jason’s is one of Cold Storage’s higher-end ‘Marketplace’ solutions to posh grocery needs. This supermarket is geared towards expat demands and international palates, so stock up on PG Tips or prowl around the wine cellar.

At a Glance Bulk Market URL: bulkmarket.uk Founded: 2017 The new permanent Bulk Market store in Hackney is Location: London a stone’s throw from a nearby Tesco supermarket, but the contrast couldn’t be more diferent.

What do we love? It’s been described as a wartime shopping experience, but this is a retail concept that’s truly of-the-moment rather than past its sell by date. After all, what’s not to love about a packaging free grocery store?

As a business, it fervently supports the principle of the Closed Loop sustainability. It prides itself on not overstocking and not wasting food or resources in disposable packaging, with most of its produce is UK grown and comes from a radius of under 50 miles.

There are no plastic bags – obviously – so take you own jars to top up, or use compostable bags and weigh out what you want. There is even reported to be plans for an on-site beehive, a commercial grade composting machine and a community area for workshops and talks to educate people on what else they can do to reduce their household waste. This is an innovative retailer with ideas much bigger than its physical size, and we applaud it.

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Albert Heijn XL At a Glance URL: ah.nl The Netherlands has become a haven for fresh food Founded: 1887 retailing, and the latest revamp of Albert Heijn XL food Location: Eindoven format doesn’t disappoint.

What do we love? We’ve been big fans of the innovative Albert Heijn XL food format since it frst launched back in 2002. Freshness adds to any food experience and in 2016, it became the frst supermarket in the Netherlands to launch instore farming with the arrival of its ingeniously made Help-yourself Herb Garden.

The result was stunning. Its revamped XL store in Eindhoven is evidence, if it were needed, that better is possible; moving the supermarket away from simply a place to complete functional grocery shopping to being a proper foodie destination for the 21st Century. The food theme is all about experts and instore preparation.

The food market is a series of island stalls, beautifully cross- merchandised with abundant market style produce displays. Most islands are manned preparation stations, with on site chefs for pizza, sushi and kitchen. A fresh prep juice bar sits at the heart of the produce department.

At a Glance Naturally URL: naturally.ltd Founded: 2018 Frustrated by the ofering from others in the sector, Location: London new grocery retailer Naturally set out to supply the local community with simple, fresh, delicious food, at an afordable price.

What do we love? Situated on Holloway Road, Naturally is a true treat for London food lovers. Its reminiscent of As Nature Intended stores, but an altogether more elevated ofering. Opened in March 2018, it ofers quality smaller, independent label produce with a transparent supply chain at an afordable price point.

We were charmed by the fact that knowledgeable employees are to hand, with the focus on acting as advisors rather than sellers. Natural materials abound throughout the store design, reinforcing the brand proposition. We particularly love the ‘Unpackaged Zone’. Featuring self-service dispensers for grains, cereals and pasta, it’s designed to reduce waste and encourage reuse of pouches or jars.

A sense of community is also at the very heart of this store, with a community table and window table encouraging interaction and extended dwell time

Back Next 17 Organic Roots

Daylesford Organic began as a simple passion for real food and a desire to feed children better. Today, it is more of a ‘movement’ than just a seller of premium, organic groceries.

Founded in 1988, Daylesford Organic has an impressive number of successful operations. As well as its award- winning organic rural farm shop, it has food stores in London, runs a French chateau producing wine and olive oils, a cookery school, foristry workshops, Bamford fashion stores, the Bamford Grooming Department City in Edinburgh, self-catering cottages, spa retreats and a pub. Not to mention the Daylesford Foundation, which provides support to help young people learn about organic and sustainable practices.

Its owner, Lady Carole Bamford, is the driving force behind the concern, starting the venture with her ahead-of-the-curve enthusiasm for organic food. As well as being an environmentally active holistic enthusiast, she is seemingly not one to ever rest on her laurels and follows a ‘and what’s next?’ approach.

Living and breathing brand values Set in the heart of Gloucestershire, every element of the Daylesford experience reinforces the brand’s values, from the vibrant green apple trees that welcome visitors to the electric car charging points as you park. Not to mention the recycled paper shopping ‘bags’ that look like you are carrying a Hermes sac. Do they know their customer? You bet they do.

Inside, you can buy everything from groceries to hampers, cookware, homeware, gifts and garden products. Daylesford food and products are not particularly obscure, unusual or even fancy. This is a demonstration of sensational food and artisan skills at its best.

Art of presentation What makes everyday articles and food items special is the form of presentation. Stories have been created out of inane products. Eggs displayed in a ‘just been laid’ approach. Bread cascading out of crates as if just spilled from an oven – each area in itself is like turning pages of a storybook: simple yet captivating and inspiring.

Images | Daylesford Organic Farm, Gloucestershire

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The point of diference for us is Daylesford’s cleverly designed and implemented ‘rooms’. From the exquisite Cheese Room to the ambience, artisan and ownership displayed within the Tea Room. Meanwhile the café ofers own brand tea, which comes with a variety of health benefts, presented with a timer so you can achieve ‘the perfect cup’.

In terms of visual merchandising, there is an abundance of strong balance between blocked product, colours, themes and stories. This is at its fnest in the ‘seaside’ inspired general merchandise range. Mixing soft grey, ocean blue and warm beige hues with braided basket lampshades, textured cotton and linen, it oozes tranquillity and comfort.

Daylesford delights in the freshness of service factors too. Its people are confdently welcoming, and have clearly been empowered to be ‘on the ground’ owners of the brand. Would it necessarily work in a more mainstream store? No. The crucial point here is that service is perfectly attuned to match customers’ expectations.

Retreat for the senses Surroundings aside, it’s easy to forget you are in a farm shop, not a department store. The selection, quality and calibre of presentation, of both product and people, really is that good. A day at Daylesford is like being at a retreat – gently adapting your mind to an organic way of thinking. Being a customer in the store has refreshing efects; making you feel you could live diferently, become a forist, gardener or cooking professional.

Whether it’s the beautiful fruit and vegetables, which never look tired or damaged or even out of place, or a carefully browsed and selected urn of tea – you leave truly wanting to ‘buy into’ the brand. You just have to take a piece of it home.

This is a progressive brand, and to the trained eye one that’s constantly moving forward. Yes, it is indulgent, extravagant and certainly from a price perspective, out of reach for everyday people and families. The connection and immersive qualities are delivered with steadfast ‘built in’ inner confdence. And the result is remarkable

Images | Daylesford Organic Farm, Gloucestershire

Back Next 19 Deli-cious

Just how do you turn the weekly shop into a pleasurable, plentiful and people-focused experience? Two family-run grocery retailers, in Portugal and Germany, believe they have the answer.

Apolónia Zurheide Feine Kost

There is an undoubted and growing trend for high Family owned German mini-chain Zurheide Feine Kost quality, niche, boutique supermarkets that specialise in is no ordinary supermarket. Opened in March 2018, its fresh and regional indie grocery brands. Sadly, outside latest high-end ‘Food Adventure’ store ofers a glimpse of Booths, the UK has little to ofer in this respect. Travel beyond our into what the future of supermarkets could look like. Impressive. shores and you’ll discover many great examples that demonstrate just how much we’re being short-changed by many of our nation’s The store’s motto translates as ‘We love food’. And they do. Here, supermarket experiences. customers can watch live food preparation and see Italian chefs making pasta. A particular highlight is the oil pressing station where Portuguese boutique supermarket Apolónia is a stunning example experts give live demonstrations about how walnut oil is extracted. of grocery best practice. The retailer began life in 1983 as a humble As well as the expected fresh departments, dairy, frozen foods and mini-market. Now it boasts over 300 employees and has ambitious grocery categories, it also features an eclectic array of eateries and expansion plans – while still retaining its family-run philosophy. bars, everything from a premium beef bar to a vegetarian restaurant.

Its proposition genuinely impressed us and that’s no mean feat for a It’s all done on an unprecedented scale, too – with three times the business that visits as many stores around the world as we do each product selection of a typical supermarket. This isn’t pile-it-high stuf. year. Instore, there’s a whole range of edible wonder. It serves up the Attention to detail instore is breathtaking. It’s expansive, refned, cultured right mix of basics, smaller hard-to-fnd specialist indie food brands, and lavish. In stark contrast to the UK’s big food retailers, this is a a sushi counter and, of course, great service. It’s exceptional Beer sizzling and sparkling example of how to get grocery retailing so right. Wine & Spirits department is also one of the best we’ve ever seen in a supermarket. Something for UK retailers to aspire to, that’s for sure. During our visit, retail standards were visibly and proudly maintained. The methods were subtle, with each product type tastefully and discretely diferentiated through design. Refreshingly, there is an emphasis on imaginative VM and display features, rather than promotional activity

Apolónia in numbers: Zurheide in numbers: Founded: 1983 Founded: 1977 Stores: 3 Stores: 8

Back Next 20 Seasoned Well

retailers – brilliant innovation backed up by clever marketing, but not The hottest food story of this quite connected at store level. And retailers must – and it is a must – summer was, arguably, the M&S close this loop. Upstream eforts only work efectively when you go into ‘Best Ever Burger’. store. Be warned: don’t fall at the last hurdle. Seasonal success A year in the making, the M&S ‘Best Ever Burger’ has been tantalising The summer has drawn to a close. However, all retailers must still sweat the nation’s tastebuds during this year’s unseasonal hot weather. their promotional calendar to its fullest, working hard to (seemingly) With the much-criticised retailer facing high-profle headlines of store efortlessly pull one activity into another. With this in mind, how will closures, it was heartening to see them investing in innovation. M&S capitalise on its summer success in the run up to autumn’s food events and the biggest meal gathering of the year at Christmas? All the right ingredients There has to be a ‘what next’ – not just sitting back enjoying a one-of When it came to the Great British BBQ, they owned the category hands accomplishment. down. This was not just a burger. It was a gluten-free M&S burger made from prime cuts of British beef, with a hint of bone marrow for extra Savvy grocery retailers can learn many good lessons from M&S and favour. It truly was M&S at its best ever; a perfect demonstration of its ‘Best Ever Burger’. Even more savvy ones will look at what could what the retailer should represent – innovation, leadership and quality. have been done to deliver even better results. This means an intuitive connection with shoppers, investing in product innovation they don’t Joining the dots know they want until they see – or taste – it. It means not leaving advertising and PR campaigns hanging, but using cleverly joined-up But could they have stepped up even further? In short, yes. It’s been thinking to maximise success instore. It means segueing success from the hottest summer in years and there was plenty of scope to really one campaign to the next in a fuid transition. That’s when retailers ramp up the BBQ angle, for example giving away mini burgers through really can claim to be the ‘Best Ever’ BBQ activations in front of stores. It’s a problem faced by many large

Ofcially the retailer’s best-selling new #1 product of the summer

The M&S ‘Best Ever Burger’ was a roaring 160% success, with sales exceeding all initial expectations

40% of Brits say they enjoy burgers year-round

Brits eat home-cooked burgers at least 2M once a week or more

Brits say that the most important thing about a 9/10 home-cooked burger is the quality of the meat

of Brits choose tomato ketchup as their 61% preferred condiment to accompany their burger

of Brits choose tomato ketchup as their 36% preferred condiment to accompany their burger

Back Next 21 My Beef

Very few British food retailers are swimming upstream at the moment. With so many competitive pressures in UK What I do fnd fascinating is that a lot of the more interesting grocery, you would expect some of the developments are coming from retailers that sit outside of the traditional press narrative around ‘the supermarket industry.’ And lots incumbents to be raising their game to deliver of these initiatives are increasing the amount and quality of choice greater diferentiation. Repeatedly, shoppers available to shoppers. are left disappointed. I have in mind here smaller regional players like Jempson’s, doing a great job in supermarkets and c-stores down in Sussex; Booker Over the last year, I’ve said ‘wow’ precisely four times walking into opening Chef Central concessions in Tesco; a retailer like B&M which is stores in the UK (Morrisons St. Ives, Iceland Food Warehouse, aggressively expanding into grocery through range enhancements and Battersea General Store and Eat 17). Contrast this to my trips to the opening B&M Express units; and even Costco – which isn’t technically USA, Poland, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany, where some a retailer – but certainly looks likes one to me. staggeringly good retail is on display and I’m frequently slack-jawed at the sensory joyfulness of the store designs and merchandising. Of the top of my head, I can think of about 45 diferent retailers that When I frst started in this business, the UK was renowned as the I could feasibly buy ‘grocery’ items from (before I even start looking home of the best supermarkets on the planet. Markets like France and online) – suggesting that there is no shortage of competition in the UK Germany were regarded as abysmal. People would travel from around sector. Some of the bigger incumbents are introducing new concepts the world to look at Sainsbury’s stores: I’m not so sure that happens too, I’m thinking Tesco and Jack’s, Asda with its concept in Didcot much these days. and Iceland aggressively rolling out the Food Warehouse concept, suggesting that the majors are active in providing further options for the Instead, folk are travelling to Dusseldorf, Eindhoven, Madrid, Warsaw, UK’s grocery shoppers. Paris, Porto and Chicago to see what good looks like. To see what retailers looking down the barrel of ferocious competition from Aldi, That said, the Big Four need to remember that the bulk of their Lidl, Biedronka, Mercadona and Walmart are doing to surprise and business comes from their existing stores rather than new outlets delight their shoppers. and that some of these legacy stores are looking fairly jaded indeed. My travels prove that bringing a bit of theatre and inspiration instore In UK supermarkets, I’m infrequently surprised and rarely delighted. needn’t be expensive. Given that shoppers invest time, money and The market seems set on becoming a homogenised morass. A bloke emotions when they buy groceries, and in a market where the price who knew a thing or two about running some shops was Sam Walton. war is unwinnable, then making supermarkets a fun place to visit must He had a rule about swimming upstream: “Go the other way. Ignore surely be the way forward the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can fnd your niche by going in exactly the Bryan Roberts opposite direction”. Global Insights Director TCC Global

Past its best Legacy stores Price wars Homogenised morass Disappointing Pastures new...

CHOICE

Back Next 22 Food Talk – The Interview

Named after co-founder John Vincent’s

father, the ethos of fast-food chain Leon is to Listen Now: produce healthy, natural fast food, inspired by www.theretailexchange.co.uk Mediterranean ingredients and cuisine.

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BB: Is it true that you host all the managers of Leon at your house every year? JV: Yes it’s about 100 people now. When competitors try and beat Leon, I think they think they’re competing with a company, and actually, they’re competing with a family.

BB: What are the opportunities for growth for Leon? Ben Bland John Vincent JV: To ofer broader food and wellbeing services, to do food in grocery Podcast Host Founder that allows people to eat well. And also, I can see there being a whole The Retail Exchange Leon Restaurants bunch of other cuisines that we can address with fast food. I can imagine other cuisines - Chinese, Mexican, Indian, so that the landlords and the customer and the guests and others have a broader choice to pick from a portfolio of naturally fast food ofers Ben Bland: What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in growing within the food and beverage industry? John Vincent: There have probably been two; one is, in trying to reinvent fast food – we actually started from scratch in many areas. There’s a conundrum of taking fresh ingredients based on a Mediterranean diet and getting those through, efectively, a fast food process and getting the gross proft right, getting the wastage right, getting the ability to still deliver fresh to the customer. That’s probably been the ultimate challenge. We’ve also grown up in an environment in the UK where property is not only less available than elsewhere, but is also much more expensive.

BB: What is it about this sector that you’re passionate about? JV: Allegra, who was also a co-founder, her passion is in the best food for the most people. Mine was very similar to that, democratising good food so that it is not the preserve of the wealthy. We really thought that if we could use the fast food format, its ubiquity and pervasiveness, then we could solve a big problem, and perhaps in solving a big problem we could have big business.

BB: I’m keen to know how you inspire and motivate your staf working in fast food can sometimes feel like being on the frontline, can’t it? JV: It’s a good question. The frst thing to recognise is that people are not coin operated. The biggest thing we fnd is that camaraderie and sense of family is the one thing that people say is the reason they stay at Leon. So for us, looking at replicating what you might see in a platoon or a small football team, it’s really that sense of joint achievement.

BB: Sustainability issues are very much in vogue. But you’ve been doing that from the start. Is it frustrating they are taking something Image | Leon Restaurants, Carnaby Street unique away from Leon, or do you think actually, this is great? JV: I’m delighted if others do it. I’m only ever frustrated if others pretend they’re doing it and they’re not. The purpose of business and people must Leon frst opened its doors on Carnaby St back in 2004. Today be to protect and enhance the human spirit, and we need to make that it has 57 stores across the UK and in Amsterdam, Utrecht, very fnancially sustainable in order for that to perpetuate. So I’m delighted Oslo, Gran Canaria and Washington DC. John Vincent joined when others follow any lead that we may have been lucky to give. broadcaster Ben Bland for a special episode of The Retail Exchange: The Interview series to look back on the story of Leon, its ethos and future plans. BB: How do you live that out within your business? JV: At the heart of what we’re trying to do is to match the nutritional and spiritual needs of the individual with the ecological needs of the planet. When it comes to the environment, we have four major things that we’re Listen to the full podcast episode in looking at; moving away from red meat consumption, going from oil- The Interview series from The Retail Exchange: based fuels to renewable, progressively eliminating plastics, and working with the UK government on how Britain can become much more green theretailexchange.co.uk and pleasant.

Back Next 24 Wait’rosy?

Waitrose has always been diferent and better for it, with key strengths in its proposition. Its clarity has been dulled recently. That’s a loss: for the brand, food lovers and the grocery industry as whole.

What’s happening with Waitrose? The once-reliable retailer has lost some of its gloss of late, joining grocery retail’s price war and emerging somewhat battle-weary. In trying to shrug of its upmarket reputation, it has alienated its loyal customers. The retailer can and deserves to be so much more.

Time to shine CEO Rob Collins and his team must “fnd the hero within”. This means some serious self-refection, examining the things it does best, diferently and with a competitive edge. Focusing with fresh eyes on how to make “Waitrose more Waitrose” and being braver with the execution, magnifcation and amplifcation of this instore.

Recently there have been some good pockets of progress, particularly in its approach to front of store merchandising – more considered, inspiring, engaging and with better implementation. This could be strengthened by harnessing its original DNA, going even further to improve its customer experience. The brand would be far better served by this than by mirroring the competition tactics of the Big Four.

5 A Day (Every day) Make us proud (again) Put simply, we think Waitrose should show of more. Not with arrogance, but with quiet confdence and an assured With a refocus on what makes Waitrose diferent and better than understanding of why customers buy from Waitrose. Unique ‘the rest’ and with better execution, Waitrose can shine again. products – presented in an exciting and relevant way – personal service We frmly believe that, with the right support, it will. delivered by real food ambassadors and clear integrated marketing that is worth sharing. It’s what Waitrose has always been about and what makes them diferent – and better. Ditch the ‘supermarket’ Waitrose CEO Rob Collins has said that the business should Partners – through and through not be about “being a supermarket any longer” and should Product aside, Waitrose has another strong point of diference: instead make sure it has “something that is really distinctive its people. They feel a passion for the brand and really know […]”. And he’s right. Waitrose customers are not time poor; they are their stuf. So why not give them license to be more positively time savvy. Allow customers to be efcient with their time when it’s demanding? Encourage partners to shun mediocrity and foster a sense right to do so (self-checkout, scan-as-you-go apps etc.,) freeing of restless dissatisfaction. If a customer brings to a partners’ attention them up for time-heavy but rich sensory food experiences. Play with that the honeydew melon is of and shouldn’t be on display, let them take shoppers’ senses – taste, smell and atmosphere – supported by great ownership. Take another melon, cut it open and show how outstanding visual execution, service-driven delivery and discussion with food others on display are. It’s now their name above the door. Give them the gurus. Customers will love you all the more for it. confdence, know-how and ongoing support to truly shine.

Return of revolutionary ‘frsts’ Key ingredients Waitrose has always been something of a pioneer. Most What Waitrose need is positive, strong and to-the-point recently, it was the frst UK supermarket to deliver a chilled thinking when it comes to store presentation. The new breed vegan section. The frst to launch tomato packaging made of independent farm shops have staked a strong claim on the from tomato leaves and recycled paper. An early advocate of removing proposition delivery that Waitrose used to drive and lead. Sadly, the disposable takeaway cofee cups from its stores (as its committed to excitement has gone. The customer experience is more about aisles remove all by this autumn). Its Prince of Wales Duchy range is the UK’s and necessity – serving the monotonous function of food shopping as largest own-label organic brand, and the second largest UK organic opposed to delivering an experience. Its conventional aisle based format brand overall. This is so empowering, what customers buy into. Give and layout does not lend itself to ‘doing things diferently’. This is holding us more please. Also, shout about it the M&S way. back innovation in developing new types of stores, with better and more distinctive, diferentiated store presentation.

Back Next 25 The Performance Issue 25 Pit Stops Motorway service stations are a far cry from their early heyday, when they were seen as a glamorous and novel experience. Back in 1966 when the Leicester Forest East Services opened on the M1, motorists could enjoy a silver service dining experience.

Today, the experience of eating on the motorway has declined from a delight into a chore. The direction of travel is changing, albeit slowly. The motorway services ofered by The Westmorland Family company – on the M6 in Cumbria and the M5 in Gloucester – have taken a diferent approach, sourcing good quality ingredients and serving up home-cooked food that represent better value for money, better quality and a healthier option. Fresh Approach Keen to replicate the success of the partnership between rival Moto and Marks & Spencer, a franchise deal with operator Welcome Break saw small Waitrose store formats drive into motorway service areas Part of that change has seen it working closely with Visual and onto petrol forecourts in 2009. Almost a decade on, the question Thinking over recent months, delivering a fresh approach to VM must be asked: is this the right direction for the brand? implementation in its front of store campaigns. Using the latest digital software, we used 3D modelling to bring merchandising planograms For a retailer which prides itself on a faultless shopping experience, to life like never before. We combined this with a new approach ofering food-to-go, ready meals, bread and milk is hardly ‘Waitrose’. to partner engagement and instore training to help people work There is no on-site bakery serving fresh pastrami and gherkin more efciently, and deliver outstanding presentation for shoppers. baguettes. But no doubt also little appetite among motorists for Fresh indeed. It works. This initiative has clearly delivered improved Herbridean crab pâté, Nocellara olives or stone baked Paysan performance. Retail teams used detailed visual guides for all front rustique rolls. of store fxturing, enabling them to understand and implement VM guidelines more efciently and preserving the integrity of campaigns Success means doing everything diferently – not just opening a across all stores. The unique solution is a masterclass in visual version of what already exists. The presence of Waitrose at motorway excellence with clear commercial results. Smart. services is a fne example of ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you should’. The ‘Little Waitrose’ in Sufolk, in partnership with Shell, To view case study visit: maybe points to a better way of blending the best of both brand concepts under the one roof. If you want to diferentiate, follow visualthinking.co.uk the lead of the Westmorland Family. Otherwise, avoid diversions Image | Visual Thinking Digital Tool for Waitrose and instead invest time, energy and resources in making your core proposition the best it can be

Waitrose 2018: Increase in ‘Best’ Customers %* Number of Waitrose stores in the UK from 2009 to 2018* 353 352 346 336 3.6 305 290 272

2.0 243 0.5 223 198

16 17 18

*Percentage increase in ‘Best’ customers during the reporting period. ‘Best’ customers are those customers who exceed particular

spend and purchase frequency thresholds over a given time frame. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Back Source: Data taken fromJohn Lewis Partnership Annual Report 2018 Next 26

We’ve all experienced poor customer service – indiference to our needs or a lack of product knowledge. It’s a far cry from the idea that modern physical retail is ‘experiential’ and a world away from the true expertise that’s demonstrated by a skilled hotel manager or sommelier.

It’s easy to blame store teams or individuals. But is that fair? In short, no. The contribution of those who work at store level can sometimes be undervalued. Too often, those frontline professionals who deliver the brand experience are ill regarded, paid hourly and often part-time. Grocery retail is in fux. The main enemy It’s unforgivable.

isn’t, as many argue, the threat of online. It’s not universal. Great examples do exist. From the skilled artisan In fact, the solution could lie in changing butchers at Cumbrae’s in Toronto to the highlight competent format development displayed within Soriana in Mexico City, or the very the way we view and value store colleagues. real sense of ‘community’ in product selection and service to be found in Gus’s Community Market in San Francisco – all ofer real and meaningful value. In the UK, retail behemoth John Lewis ofers concierge services at its new concept stores and has even employed actors to arm store teams with vital new skills. Good to know. Even better would be seeing these practices more widely adopted.

What price service? Getting the essentials right helps to create a memorable shopping experience and foster brand loyalty. A case in point is how Tesco has latterly turned itself around by embracing initiatives of retail basics.

But in truth, ‘basics’ are often taken too literally, as little, boring, for someone else to worry about. Attentive and knowledgeable staf is rarely seen as an exciting topic for shareholders or internal teams. Only when performance begins to haemorrhage in the public eye do beleaguered senior retail leaders quickly turn their attention to such ‘lowly’ issues of staf and store-level operations. Restorative initiatives, heralded as ‘performance busting’ are quickly launched – often as a knee-jerk reaction.

This can range from putting more staf in the frontline to serve customers and fll shelves to opening more tills – fundamentals of efective retailing. These are tried-and-tested tools which really do work. Not a last resort, sticking-plaster solution.

And when the business rebounds and normal performance is resumed? Sadly, the taps of good old-fashioned service are turned of again. Why? Because these are easy ways to save money and shore up profts. This is folly, and simply serves to mark the start of a new decline-and-improve cycle.

Frontline Tactics Empowering people on the frontline to meet the challenges set by more spontaneous shoppers is key. Agility is the new watchword. To ensure success is delivered in every store, every day, retailers must invest in developing their people, arming them with specialist, practical skills to keep stores running smoothly. And they must produce robust, clear communication around retail policy, so staf are operating within The contribution of those who consistent guidelines, imbuing them with the confdence they are making the right decisions. It’s ‘freedom within a framework’ – store work at store level can sometimes managers and teams making on-the-ground judgement calls that are be undervalued. right for shoppers and bang on brand Good people and great service strengthen the bond and engagement with customers. And right now, that’s what so many grocery retailers need

Source: This article features extracts taken from ‘Why retail must rise above minimum wage culture’ by Visual Thinking consultant, Kirsty Kean, in Monocle magazine. To read her article in full, pick up a copy of Monocle’s Image | Tesco Store Teams, © Tesco PLC special Retail Edition – out now.

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Improving Capability

The pace of change To flter your dedication to the business down to store teams, you need to be realistic. You can’t make company-wide change happen overnight. Real, tangible retail transformation will need time, investment and an unwavering commitment.

Brands such as Pret a Manger, Waitrose, Lush and Apple have all led the way. Not only do they capture our hearts creating products we love, they place a similar level of focus on engaging those responsible for bringing the brand experience to life within the retail environment.

So there’s no such thing as a quick fx. However, we do have fve considerations to help you accelerate the pace and efectiveness of your retail transformation. #1 Show people why they matter Help store teams understand how they ft into the bigger picture for your brand, how they can make a diference to the shopper experience. Show them you care and they’ll care. And don’t assume everyone knows what they should be doing.

Provide clear guidance on your expectations of ‘what good looks like’ and the policies and practices teams should be adopting.

#2 Identify which stores need help It’s hard to have eyes everywhere and often what you think is going on in stores is very diferent to the reality. There are ways you can monitor how well teams are complying with instore visual standards more closely. With the right kind of store insight you can focus your attention, time and resources on the stores that need help the most. #3 Develop knowledge and skills For teams to perform better, they need the right (and often new) skills. Plenty of retailers readily invest in headline-grabbing store concepts, but fail to provide the necessary learning and development needed to deliver real change. By investing in your store teams, you’ll move one step closer to embedding long-term changes in behaviour and accelerating change instore. #4 Thinking like a customer We may work in retail, but we’re all shoppers too. Encourage your store teams to take a step back and see their store through a shopper’s eyes. Would what they see to encourage them to buy? What would have a negative impact on their experience in your stores? They’ll quickly understand how those seemingly small visual tasks really can make a big diference. #5 Use what you have, more efectively It’s a sad fact that countless retailers are facing pressure to reduce their head count, both at head ofce and store level. That means everyone’s contribution is more important than ever. Store teams need to know their role and work towards shared objectives. For many, the challenge is to fnd smart tools and resources to help unlock stores’ true potential and work more efciently than ever before. It’s a challenge, not an insurmountable problem.

Top Image | Sainsbury’s Bakery Team Middle Image | In February, Tesco axed the role of customer experience manager at its 226 largest Extra stores. Bottom Image | Waitrose Team launching its ‘Beautifully Simple’ seasonal promotion

Back Next 28 Buy British

Does the UK’s hunger for Brexit still ‘Remain’? Politics aside, the 29 March 2019 deadline for Britain to leave the EU could also have 2016 EU Referendum Results signifcant repercussions for the nation’s food 50% 0% 50% shoppers and retailers.

For too long, British food has had a bad rap. Two world wars, rationing contributed to a period of eating that was comparable to 48.1% 16,141,241 VOTES 17,410,742 VOTES 51.9% our weather – dull and boring. The Brits have become seasoned culinary globetrotters. Traditional British dishes have been much derided in comparison to the oferings from Italy, France and Asia, and BRITAIN VOTES LEAVE increasingly shunned by its own population.

The Brexit factor Uniting by food With Brexit fast approaching and the fear of subsequent price rises, Great Britain hasn’t seemed quite so great in recent years. Few in shoppers may change their food buying habits, leading to even greater the UK know what lies ahead: Britain stands at a precarious juncture. competition for shoppers’ spend. A report conducted shortly after the If ever a country needed to rediscover a greater sense of national ‘Leave’ vote suggested that more than 41% are likely to change their identity, it’s now. Retailers helping us to rediscover our Britishness spending habits to save on household expenses, with shoppers aged 18 through long-forgotten dishes could be the perfect place to start. While to 34 most likely. This could likely see customers switching to cheaper it might not inspire a new international trend like “Hygge”, retailers who grocery brands – a move that Tesco is surely hoping to capitalise on, demonstrate a hunger for traditional British meals could fnd their ofer with the launch of its much-anticipated new discount fascia. more palatable with shoppers and proftable at the tills

Made in Britain The Department for International Trade (DIT) launched its ‘The Food Is GREAT’ campaign last year, a direct approach to promoting UK-based food and drink companies in international markets. It has achieved signifcant success, but what about closer to home?

British Food Fortnight (22 September – 7 October), run by Love British Food in association with The Co-op, seeks to fnd the best community celebration of British food. “There are so many once-loved regional dishes in the UK that are seldom used today,” explains British Food Fortnight founder Alexia Robinson.

Going Irish? Perhaps Irish retail serves as an example of what may lie ahead? The fallout of the global economic crisis saw brands and retailers turning to nationalist messaging, actively promoting Irish brands and products. While the messaging may have seemed somewhat at odds with the multicultural realities of a country that welcomed more than its far share of EU workers during the boom years, the ‘Buy Irish’ was almost universally adopted – even UK-based supermarket giant Tesco launched a ‘Buy me, I’m Irish’ message instore.

Best of British Grocery retailer Booths has previously revived traditional regional recipes such as Cumberland Rum Nicky – a rum and fruit tart. So are more grocery retailers in the UK promoting British culinary delights post-Brexit? Could we see a rise in the popularity of classic British staple meals such as the humble Bangers and Mash, Beef Wellington, Welsh Cawl and Bread and Butter pudding? Or even the revival of some of Britain’s forgotten dishes, such as Pickled Beef or Carp Pie.

Back Next 29 Hello Jack’s

The name of Tesco’s new Attitudes towards British food purchased in the UK discounter chain was one of retail’s Strongly Agree Agree Neither Disagree worst kept secrets. Marking the Strongly Disagree supermarket’s centenary project to honour its original founder Jack Cohen, in 12% 29% 38% 16% 5% reality it seeks to tackle the rise of the big two I’m prepared to pay more for British Food major discounters head on with a promise to sell “the cheapest products in town”. 25% 52% 21% 2%

It maybe stating the obvious, but instore it’s a familiar look. Areas like It’s important to support British Farmers fresh produce all look very, well, ‘Tesco’. There are clear similarities in ofer between Jack’s and immediate competitors too; WIGIG - 48 General Merchandise products placed in metal baskets for a limited 14% 31% 46% 7% 2% period, Fresh Five - a fortnightly changing fresh fruit and veg ofer, and a promo magazine for the customer to take away. I think that British Food tastes better

The Jack’s Shop Smart app is something diferent though. The introduction of retailer app payments feels a world away from the 15% 33% 29% 18% 5% current experience in the big two discounters. If they don’t already have plans to do so, they will have to move fast in this area, as it is likely to I usually check the label to see which country my groceries come from quickly become a standard expectation of shoppers now Jack’s will ofer it. 10% 33% 45% 10% 2% There is no doubt that the grocer has gone back to its roots. And, in its hopes to entice shoppers away from its German rivals, its “8 out of British Food tends to be more expensive than imported food 10 products are British’ message is a key call out. It could be viewed as all being a bit ‘Nationalist’. From high-level graphics to Union Jack packaging, the customer is left in no doubt that they are buying home 17% 43% 31% 7% 2% grown, reared or made products. So is this designed to be a ‘Brexit store’? Tesco, it seems, have very much zeroed in on ‘Buy British’ I try to buy British Food whenever I can post-Brexit opportunities. Especially given that 74% of people in the Fenland district, where the frst Jack’s store in located, voted ‘Leave’ Source: Statista (2016) in the EU referendum. Tesco says not. Simply, it’s what the customer wants according to Dave Lewis CEO.

For now, Jack’s is very much in a ‘test and learn’ phase. Some might say that’s wise. It will have to move fast though – 100 stores within the next two years? Seemingly, that’s not the plan. Instead, its targeted opposition will only amount to 10-15 Jack’s stores by 2019. That’s hardly a serious challenge. With Aldi and Lidl storming ahead and grabbing the market share, it remains to be seen whether Jack’s can deliver the scale of expansion needed to truly get of the starting blocks, let alone win the race for customer loyalty. But while the name may be diferent, this is still Tesco. So don’t discount them

Back Next 30 VM for GM See It, Like It, Buy It!

While discount supermarkets can be lauded for successfully disrupting the sector, are they falling short of the mark with their general merchandise ofer?

Industry inspiration Lidl and Aldi could look to other discounters like B&M or Wilko for inspiration. While their ratio of GM vs food is converse, they fuse the two together seamlessly. Product is shelved to be low maintenance, easily replenished and clearly signed. The most notable diference is navigation through segmented products. Price is still the main pull in the likes of B&M, but customers can also fnd exactly what they are looking for and in turn be tempted by other products.

One discount supermarket demonstrating best practice is The Food Warehouse. Touted as Iceland’s ‘bigger little brother’, its GM ofer is small but perfectly formed. Gondolas house products all segmented by end use. Adjacent to this sits a specialist sweet shop – perfectly illustrating how much more exciting a gondola can be with a bit of imaginative POS added to it.

Space savers Interestingly, the GM sections in Lidl and Aldi are the only area where vertical space is not used efectively. While lower-level gondolas give better visibility, valuable retail space is unused. For discounters, using space wisely matters. Another missed opportunity is focal points or lead-in displays instore.

The high-profle Heidi Klum clothing range designed for Lidl is great PR, but regular customers would be forgiven for missing this, dumped as it is in wire bins next to electric toothbrushes. Embedding new retail principles may be a challenge for discounters, but it’s one they must rise to if they are to efectively merchandise their GM ranges

The likes of Aldi and Lidl are no longer anyone’s dirty secret or guilty pleasure. Like Skoda before them, these once-derided brands are now the frst choice for many. Buoyed by a sharp rise in popularity during harder Looks Good. Sells More. times, they have evolved in terms of price, layout and delivery. Their food ofer is fast becoming more sophisticated, with specialist areas and a Essential hints for growing sales in the middle aisle. focus on the provenance and quality of their products. Sort It. In general... #1 Customers love rummaging for a bargain. But doesn’t excuse However, there’s one area of these store still found wanting: general the middle aisle being a mess. Take retail standards seriously. merchandise. For us, it’s still too undervalued by discounters. Not in commercial terms – the numbers are good. But when it comes to visual Organise It. merchandising policy and principles, the level of sophistication is light #2 Improve product segmentation. Help your customers to shop years behind visible changes in other areas of the store. categories in a way that is logical and easy to navigate.

Supermarkets generally have standalone GM sections, sometimes shop- Present It. in-shops with their own branding and layouts. The category is much more #3 Maximise the use of space instore. Adopt linear presentation transient for discounters. The range of products are segmented by theme principles to display product with real authority. which changes weekly, turnover is quick and customers know to buy on sight, or risk losing out on limited ofers. Promote It. #4 Use instore communication more efectively to create bold, Aldi refers to these to as ‘Special Buys’ indicating the deal as a bargain. impactful and clear product ofers that call out more than simply price. Display reinforces this, with items placed in wire bins or piled high on wooden pallets – presentations which soon become ‘bargain bins’.

Back Next 31 Street Food

The popularity of street food is going nowhere. But while bigger retailers may be tempted to cash in, food writer Anna Masing, ofers a few words of caution.

The value of the street food market is likely to reach £1.2bn this year, according to UK food & beverage research company, MCA.

Operations such as Street Feast, which now has six venues, and the successful openings this year in London of Mare Street Market and Eat 17: Hammersmith shows the idea of street food has moved on from a street-side market once a week, to a deeper sense of permanency.

In the UK, street food is often spoken about in terms of democratising dining, with its informal structure and range of dishes available. Although there is a British identity with food markets, the scene has been infuenced by non-western cultures, such as the South East Asian Top | Dinerama, London hawker centres. An overwhelming number of street food dishes and Bottom | MOOD Mall, Sweden vendors have non-British roots and, globally, it is typically associated with poorer sections of society. These intersects of race and class are essential in understanding how street food and food markets should develop. If brands are not able to give sufcient context they will run into Increasingly, people see enjoying food experiences in this communal problems, akin to Jamie Oliver’s recent jerk rice incident. setting as an everyday activity. But large organisations must be careful in how they embrace the scene. Recently we saw the launch of the The sense of ‘authentic’ street food has developed in recent years to “one night only” social dining concept from Intu Supper Club. While it include dishes with regional specifcity and personal stories that have generated a good deal of media interest, for me this was an example of global reach. This year, Singapore’s Liao Fan, who won a star for his shoe horning that idea into street food and food hall concepts. These hawker stall, came to London for three days to serve his signature dish have very particular reference points, that if confated will not do street from a stall in Kings Cross at Kerb Food creating two-hour long queues. food ideas any justice.

Street food markets have enjoyed success because it provides spaces With these things in mind – innovation, cultural diversity, platforming, for innovation. Without the need for huge overheads and start-up and storytelling - supermarkets are in a position to successfully support capital, cooks, chefs and would-be restaurateurs can experiment and create street food spaces and oferings. To do so with credibility, and have a platform to showcase their ideas. This ofers on-the-spot these spaces have to be developed with a sensitivity, understanding feedback with low risk and with the added dimension of social media and genuine connection with the community – both consumers and customers are able to become a genuine part of these stories of growth the vendors. This will need to be done by allowing the independent and innovation. food brands space to develop their own identity, and to be a part of showcasing stories But there is still space for further innovation, and supermarkets could ofer some very interesting options. When Tesco frst launched its new look Watford store, then CEO Philip Clarke, said it encapsulated his vision of what to do with all that excess space. Girafe was a key part of his strategy to try to pull shoppers in. But by 2016, Girafe was gone. So could introducing street food operators into the supermarket environment succeed, where Girafe failed?

Anna Masing Anna Masing is a respected food writer who has been published in CODE Quarterly, Eater London and At The Table. She is currently Acting Head of Food, Beverage and Hospitality at Stylus Innovation + Advisory.

Image | Dinerama, London

Back Next 32 Box Fresh

What does the rise in subscription services mean for grocery retailers?

Today, we no longer need to buy stuf to enjoy it. One of the biggest growing trends of our time is the sharing economy. And once you start delving into this world, you realise it’s entirely possible that you never need ‘buy’ anything again. Pioneered by the likes of Airbnb and Uber, as a nation we are now borrowing a lot more than we are buying. Every sector of the retail market is now covered by subscription services. Netfix and Spotify for entertainment, Zipcar and oBike for commuting and ‘recipe box’ providers like HelloFresh and Gousto.

Sharing economy Subscription services are not just about time saving, but also about being able to ‘try out’ new products with little to no cost. An established company in this market is Birchbox, who ofer fve Image | Morrisons’ launched its Eat Fresh meal kit ofer, priced at £25, in September 2018 beauty products delivered to your door each month for £12.95. Food subscription services are especially interesting, helping to streamline our purchases and reduce the amount we throw away. The key here is bespoke orders that only send us what we need in a ‘little-and-often’ approach, adapting to our ever-changing eating habits. Those who live their lives via social media, spending money on clothes they only want 89% +11% to wear once makes little sense. Enter the likes of fashion subscription of the UK population rise in subscription service, Girl Meets Dress, which hires out dresses and handbags, so (58 million Brits) are economy adoption you’re never pictured in the same outft twice. already subscribed to from UK adults since a service. last year. Inside the box With society increasingly reaching for these types of solutions, how can established retailers keep up? After all, the share economy and subscriptions services are a diferent business model from regular retail. However, grocery retailers are increasingly seeking to exploit the growing trend for curated meal kit services? Not just delivering products based on a ‘shopping list’, but ofering pre-packaged meal £56 1.7M occasions delivered to customers’ doors. average monthly UK shoppers now spend on subscription opt for subscription At the beginning of September 2018, Morrisons launched its Eat Fresh services in 2017. grocery services. recipe boxes. M&S have taken steps in this direction too with their online ‘meat boxes’, available as standard or luxury. At the other end of the spectrum, Lidl’s Too Good To Waste fruit and veg boxes are a great idea with room for expansion. Time now surely for Aldi and Lidl to corner this market, ofering meal kits with their trademark unknown brands, pre-packaged with a carry handle. Fast food with a twist. These are set contents – why not take the idea further into custom- built meal kits? Personal food shoppers instore could box up meal kits 600k for you to take home and cook, while you complete some of your more functional purchases. Food for thought. UK shoppers now opt for subscription Supermarkets are missing another trick: think Hotel Chocolat Tasting grocery services. Club, supermarket style. A curated hamper for gifting, the perfect way to foster brand loyalty and promote range. By harnessing key elements of the sharing and subscription economy, retailers will demonstrate their innovative thinking... and deliver it direct to their customers

gousto.co.uk is rated Based on 5,102 reviews

Back Next 33

The rise and rise of veganism is increasingly apparent and well backed up by research. According to Brandwatch, we’re more likely now than at any time in the last 12 years to Google the word “vegan”. It’s one of Britain’s fastest-growing lifestyle movements, up by 360% over the past decade, suggests the Vegan Society. Forward-thinking retailer Waitrose recently launched a dedicated vegan section in more than 125 stores.

However, veganism is just one of many alternative food choices that are growing in popularity. It is estimated 1.3m people in the UK now follow a gluten-free diet. Countless new products are entering the market, with an expanding range of meat-free, dairy-free and gluten-free options making their way into mainstream shopping baskets.

Unfortunately, ‘free from’ is being taken too literally by category format and merchandising teams. It’s one of the most depressing places in the Shoppers are flling up on new ‘alternative’ supermarket. In most cases, the customer experience is as inspiring meal choices. While the trend for free- as the packaging of a basic-range frozen meal. Supermarkets can and should do better. Well-executed front-of-store promotions, clearer from eating is on the rise, approaches to navigation and merchandising, more efective communication in aisle. product presentation could still be a good It’s not rocket science. deal healthier. There are some great examples to draw inspiration from. Holland and Barrett installed a four-week ‘Honey and Barrett’ takeover at its Marble Arch store to promote Manuka honey. Pret A Manger stole a march on its competitors by launching its dedicated Veggie Pret fascia. While Germany’s frst fully vegan supermarket, Veganz (frst launched way back in 2011), was perhaps a little head of its time, the likes of GreenBay in London and Karma in Switzerland, both vegan supermarket chains, are gaining in popularity. Evidence enough, for those brave and committed, that there are still exciting growth opportunities within what would otherwise appear to be highly saturated markets.

The ‘trend of the moment’ is not the sole domain of fashion retailers. Supermarkets must also seize the day. Come on retailers: with a greater focus innovation in the category ofer – product, packaging, presentation, all working in balance – extra proft is there for the taking

Veganism Interest Over Time Worldwide 1st January 2004 – 2nd June 2018

Diet mentions 100 among food 54% influencers 75 in 2018

1.3m people in the UK now 50

follow a gluten free diet 25

Jan 1, 2004 Mar 1 2007 May 1 2010 Jul 1, 2013 Sep 1, 2016

Image | Veggie Pret, London. Manchester Opens October 2018.

Back Source: Inforgraphic | Google Trends Next 34

Bread Winners

It’s a household staple and a lunchbox fxture. So why is bread and the bakery category so often neglected by grocery retailers? Image | Asda, named Supermarket Bakey Business of the Year 2018 by BIA

Solid, reliable but rarely exciting, the bakery department is often found Avoiding the more obvious temptation of developing a new bakery languishing at the back of the store, the last place you’d expect to fnd concept, they’ve rolled up their sleeves and reviewed and improved any kind of culinary freworks. That could all be changing. The eforts everything about their current ways of working and instore delivery. of some of the major multiples are not only sparking taste buds, but also the judges’ interest at the 2018 British Bakery Awards. Visual This means relevant, meaningful new product development and Thinking founder Karl McKeever once again joined the judging panel to improvements to scheduling so shoppers can now purchase fresh, decide who would be awarded the coveted title of ‘Supermarket Bakery warm bread throughout the day. The retailer has also introduced new Business of the Year’. POS and revamped its merchandising and packaging. It’s a pragmatic delivery and is a good best practice illustration of implementing Winners ASDA have taken a ‘back to basics’ approach with their improvements at scale on a limited, realistic budget. bakery strategy and instore execution, backed by Board level recognition of the importance of our ‘daily bread’ as a popular The whole process has also been a shining example of synergy, bringing ‘everyday’ halo category to promote the freshness credentials of stores together expertise across the whole category, in production, sourcing, overall – new CEO Roger Burnley requested bakery to form a key plank marketing and implementation, to drive the changes through. It’s a in the retailers’ turnaround strategy. textbook turnaround case study with all the right ingredients for an efective, scalable rollout model that maximises ROI. Better baking, better products and better presentation to the customer – what’s not to love?

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Back Next 35 Cook Books

Book sales in the food and drink category are on the up. So why are they still being sold from boring shelves?

According to fgures from Neilson BookScan, food and drink book sales reached £87m in 2017. Two of the top six in the ofcial UK bestseller book chart right now are cookbooks, with Ella Mills’ Deliciously Ella: The Plant-Based Cookbook at number one. Clearly, there is consumer demand, and it’s a category that’s ripe for disruption.

Food Narrative One of the most infuential British food bloggers, Ella has a prolifc social media following. More interestingly, she is also the eldest daughter of supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury. So why has there been no collaboration with Sainsbury’s and their captive audience of customers? What better way to promote the message of better eating and living than through book signing events and live instore demonstrations?

Buying a book from a supermarket is about as thrilling as, well, a supermarket shelf. Most of these retailer experiences are decidedly dull, with books displayed on tired shelves with little visual merchandising. Why don’t retailers put cookbooks in food aisles for some true inspiration? Rick Stein books in the fresh fsh section. Books from diferent cultures in World Foods. The opportunities are endless.

Plentiful opportunities Cookbooks are often viewed as gift items. But a bit of clever product placement, combined with author events instore, could see sales rocket. By being authoritative on a subject these books create an air of confdence, one that retailers could easily exploit to sell not only the cookbooks but other products. A few retailers have caught on: Waitrose is currently selling the new Jamie Cooks Italy book on its front of store displays alongside staple Italian ingredients. More should follow suit. Top Image | Waterstones Piccadilly Supermarket cafes – typically bland, out-of-sight areas – are surely Bottom Left Image | Fortnum & Mason prime space for cookery events and food sampling? Major London Bottom Right Image | Waitrose bookshops like Waterstones and Foyles make little efective use of their cafés – The London Review is the only retailer with even a nod to a tie- in, with some cookbooks in its café window. But still all a bit halfhearted. There must be a reason for customers to pay you a visit and nothing promotes loyalty like establishing social events (and free food). Top Cookbooks of 2018 (So far) Turning the page Unsurprisingly, specialist cookbook shops take events and demonstrations far more seriously, with dedicated spaces to involve customers in their products. For retailers like John Lewis, with its new experiential retail concept, there are opportunities too. Why not recreate food events like those at OnBlackheath Festival instore?

And who says a cookbook launch must be a standard ofering? Tie- ins to products like kitchen aids and white goods could see a surge in sales. All it takes is a step change in thinking... and retailers could welcome in a new chapter for book sales Eat a Little Better Simple Deliciously Ella Sam Kass Yotam Ottlenghi Ella Woodward

Back Next À la carte 36 Success Menu

Focused. Efective. Sustainable. Results.

Visual Thinking’s team of retail specialists have substantial experience of working in the sector and are well placed to maximise both store and team performance in across the entire range of grocery and general merchandise categories that can be found in supermarkets’ retail environment. #1 Inform Strategic Decisions Identifying the current issues and barriers to improving the customer experience, team performance and visual operations. #2 Defne Visual Policy Delivering clear, efective, real-world implementation to improve commercial performance in the here and now. #3 Improve Retail Standards Achieving leading retail standards by communicating policy that speaks to retail teams at all levels. #4 Transform Team Performance Refocusing retail teams and achieving ‘buy in’ regarding the need for change. #5 Maximise Instore Sales Improving team engagement, operational efectiveness and delivering a distinctive, consistent retail experience.

How our expertise can help We have a full range of services and tools to enable retailers to deliver ‘better’, faster. Our experienced in-house team of retail specialists are highly skilled at providing robust, unbiased assessments of current store performance, creating store-ready visual policy guidelines, engaging store teams and develop learning experiences and tools that empower them to deliver retail excellence in every store, every day.

All supported by clear KPI and ROI measure to prove efectiveness and resulting improvements in commercial performance.

Kirsty Kean Suzanne Tanner Lead Retail Specialist Senior Retail Specialist [email protected] [email protected]

Karl McKeever Founder & Managing Director [email protected] Back Next The Performance Issue 37

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